"With one out of five people in the world subject to Islamic law this important study of the Malaysian variant is a genuine milestone in our understanding of Muslim law and society. It challenges our appreciation of the power relations between men and women and of the politics of law in building a modern state. This is law not on the books but in daily life. The insights afforded here are central to the broader role Islamic law is playing in the lives of the whole world."--Lawrence Rosen, Princeton University

"This is at once Michael Peletz's most sophisticated and most ambitious book. He is concerned with at least three huge projects: the Islamic resurgence, the Islamic legal system, and cultural politics. This is an evocative, often brilliant book that shows how cosmopolitan politics engineered from Kuala Lumpur have produced a contradictory notion of Asian values that poses an opaque but imminent danger."--Bruce Lawrence, author of Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence

"Based on impressive fieldwork and archival research, this is the first full-length treatment of Islamic courts in contemporary Malaysia. It makes the important point that, far from being antiquated and out of touch, Islamic courts are helping to make a 'modern' Malaysia."--James Piscatori, coeditor of Muslim Politics